Thursday, September 07, 2006
Budget request approved by trustees
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University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees approved the biennial budget request for 2007-2009 at the regular meeting of the trustees on Thursday, September 7, 2006. USI President H. Ray Hoops told the trustees that the University has budgeted for needs it believes are required to maintain current programs, sustain the current pattern of enrollment and support increases in enrollment, and address critical state and regional needs. The request total is $78.7 million for 2007-08 and $83.5 million for 2008-09. Funding for enrollment change continues to be a component of the University’s operating budget request. The enrollment funding formula has not been fully funded since 2000-01. The University requests funding at $3,500 per-full-time-Hoosier student based on the four-year rolling average for an additional 260 full-time students. The difference in state appropriations among the state higher education institutions is significant. USI has drawn attention to the disparity in past budget requests and does so again this biennium. This year’s request includes a special appropriation adjustment in each year--$250 per full-time-Hoosier student in 2007-08 and an additional $125 per full-time-Hoosier student in 2008-09. Because plant expansion, which typically is appropriated on completion of a major capital project, was not funded in the past request, plant expansion funding is part of this biennium’s request. It is needed to cover the operating costs of the new Rice Library. Funding also is being sought for two new programs. To serve regional workforce and economic development demands and strengthen the economic future of southwestern Indiana, the University requests $950,000 for 2007-08 and $850,000 for 2008-09. With the funding, the University would expand the activities of the University’s Center for Applied Research in Innovation Pointe Certified Technology Park in downtown Evansville; develop an entrepreneurship education program; and create a new center for business economic studies. Establishment of a center to focus on recruitment and retention of students plus professional development programs for teachers in the academic areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is the other initiative. USI is a leader in STEM education and plays a key role in the recruitment of Indiana students working toward degrees in STEM areas and in professional development of STEM teachers. The request of $500,000 for 2007-08 and $750,000 in 2008-09 would fund a Summer STEM Academy for high school students, create an Early Undergraduate Research Program, and develop the Program Leading to Undergraduate Success in Sciences (PLUSS). In other business, the trustees received updates on quad landscaping, completion of the unfinished lower level of the Education Center, and plans for the Physical Plant/Support Services building. |
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